He laughs. “Okay, well. My relationship revolves around acts of service. Not just sexual but all kinds. Like cooking and laundry and house stuff. Nika is a brat, but be careful with that. It’s a conversation between you and your master.”
“Alpha,” Harvey corrects. “He has an alpha. Not a master.”
“Sorry,” Ben says.
“Acts of service,” I note. Do I do that?
“I’m a slave,” Harvey says, grinning. My breath catches. “It means I submit to any form of pain, anguish, punishment, or exercise that my master Emmett desires.”
I try to picture the Noah-like guy, and my eyebrows knit together. Nope. I can’t see that. Wow.
“Esmond is also a service sub,” Benji says.
“Yep,” Esmond agrees, flashing me a smile. “I’m Remy and Rory’s sub today because we thought you and your ma—alpha, I mean… might like to see a Dom switch. Rory is a switch, meaning that he also has some sub needs as well.”
“I didn’t know that was a thing,” I admit.
“Caelum is a Little,” Benji says, nodding in Caelum’s direction. “There’s a healthy Little community on the island too. He joined us today so you can see what a Little and Daddy look like.”
“Master Alder is being Daddy today,” Caelum says shyly. It’s only now that I’m standing in the kitchen with them that I realize he’s wearing a one-piece bathing suit with a shark in floaties on the front. The same exact suit a four-year-old might wear. Where did he even get one that fit him?
As I stare around the kitchen at them, I realize that maybe there is a whole lot I can learn. I don’t even know what a Little is, though from context, I think I can guess.
CHAPTER 27
DASAN
I watchthe door Shively walked through for a minute. I know he’s nervous, and I hadn’t anticipated him being separated from me. Though I can’t hear them, I focus on where he disappeared and strain my ears for a little bit of sound.
When I’m convinced I can’t hear them at all, I turn to the others to find all six men looking at me. I smile, amused.
“So,” Miles says. “Your messages said you wanted to learn from people to be a dom.”
With a sigh, I nod. “I’ve done a lot of research, read a lot, and there was a documentary I watched. But my profession means I’m traveling roughly half the month for a solid six or more months every year, and have never had time to have a relationship like this. This was an accident, but once we realized what we had, we decided to strengthen it and see where it went.” Despite the risk, though I don’t say those words out loud. “The thing is, I didn’t believe that I’d actually be in this relationship dynamic any time soon, so I’ve not explored the lifestyle in the way I should have to be prepared.”
“There isn’t a single way to do this,” Emmett says. “Hell, I even call myself a D-O-M-M-E because I like to feel feminine. That spelling is generally reserved for women.”
“That’s cool. And I get that. I guess maybe it isn’t so much… dynamics, but what’s the expectation from a full-time situation? I feel like there’s only so much I can get from reading, which is why I wanted to see some relationships in real life.”
“I know my boy asked about meet-ups closer to home, so I’m curious why you sought one so far away,” Miles says. “You were vague when I asked. You were also concerned about pictures.” He glances at the basket of phones.
Grinning, I nod. “None of you recognize me.” That makes every one of them study me closely. My grin widens. “That’s why.”
There are looks exchanged before Miles nods. “Fair enough. Anonymity. Understood. It’s easy to say that there are a lot of different kinds of doms and subs. Running down a list serves its purpose, but maybe we can talk more specifics. Do you know what way you’re leaning?”
“Soft dom. I’ve read a little more on the plane about soft doms specifically, and I’m pretty sure that’s where I lie. I’m not into pain. I’m awful at discipline, though I think my punishment of having Shiv write me an essay worked well enough.”
I receive several chuckles.
“Maybe it’s more than recognizing what we’re doing. I’ve not been around other doms and their subs, so Ifeellike maybe I’m missing vital pieces, you know? I’m also wondering what a full-time Dom/sub relationship looks like because it’s not entirely clear from anything I’ve read.”
“That’s something we can help with,” Emmett says. “Harvey is my husband, and he’s my full-time slave. Mason and Nika have been together for, what? Sixteen years?”
The man I determine to be Mason nods.
“And Miles and Benji are coming up on four years together, right?”
“We just passed four years,” Miles says.
